Why we fight
by Rand Al'Tor
Summary: Frog and Ayla discover what ius fated to happen in 2300. Takes place just after Lavos landed in 65000000 BC.


The air was still hard to breathe in he crater, though it had been better since the huge forest fires had pulled further away. The sun was hardly visible trough the huge dustcloud. One of the figures in the middle of the crater looked up with a worried expression. Eventhough it wasn't fulfilled yet, Azala's prophecy caused Ayla to shiver. A long, cruel ice age. She had asked Lucca what it meant. Now she wished she didn't. You could hit a reptite, but how can you defend yourself against the cold? She cast those worries aside. She and her tribe would survive. They always did. And if they didn't, they would be dead, and it wouldn't matter anyway.   
  
She looked around. The weird yellow man was using something that looked like a trunk to eat dirt. Did the fighter eat earth ? Now she thought of it, she never had seen him eat anything. The other strange, green, new friend she had made was cleaning his sword. He was funny. He talked to his sword He looked a bit like a reptite, but was a good friend. He seemed a bit shocked hen she had bitten a cave ape to death though. The yellow-haired girl, Marle, had explained her that he wasn't used to fighting women. He had thought Marle and Lucca were strange because they fought with their strange weapons. Marle, Lucca and Crono were talking among eachother. The three of them were sitting next to a strange black and blue… Ayla didn't know a word to describe it. A gate they had called it. They looked angry and sad. She decided to talk.   
  
« You not worry. We hide in caves. Fires will stop »  
  
Marle giggled, but she still looked sad. « We know you'll survive Ayla. But it's something else. »  
  
Lucca shook her head. « He's way to deep down. We'll never get him."  
  
« Get who ? »  
  
« Lavos. The thing that fell down »  
  
« Why you want big rock from sky ? This like red stone ? »  
  
Suddenly, the green man, Frog, they said his name was, sheathed his sword and spoke. « This question did indeed occur to me as to her ? Why dost thou hunt this fallen star. Should we not return to our home and kin. Surely Lady Ayla has to aid her people, and I have yet to hunt down that fiend Magus. » Frog had started calling her lady ever since he had been told she was an important woman of the tribe.  
  
« You help Ayla, Ayla help you : Kino is chief now. Me help hunt down bad wizard. »  
  
Lucca sighed « Lavos isn't just a rock. It… lives. »  
  
« Thou speakst folly Dame Lucca. Even if it would be so that it took breath, surely hi fall from heavens should have made it perish »  
  
Ayla nodded. « Lavos went boom. What problem ?»  
  
Lucca rested her head on her hands. « No, he's not dead. He just arrived. Now all we have for a trace is this gate. And we need more information, so we can fight him. We have to. »  
  
Marle nodded. « Don't worry Lucca, I'm sure we'll find a way to defeat him. Right Crono ? »  
  
The red haired warrior nodded, though his heart wasn't in it.  
  
« Thy thirst for the demise of this Lavos seems to fill thy hearts. Thou sought him in the castle of Magus, and thou found him in these strange lands. What for dost thou crave the death of this minion of Magus so ardently ? And what might the reason be that it manifested here, while Magus gave his call in his dark fortress. Surely we are many miles away»  
  
Now Robo spoke with that strange voice of his. « Negative. Sensors indicate that co-ordinates are within 0.35 mile of Magus' base of operations. »  
  
« Thou speakest folly. These lands are not a kin to the blasted lands the sorcerer calls home.»  
  
Lucca frowned. « Robo. Pipe down. » She whispered, but not quiet enough for Ayla's jungle trained ears.  
  
« You hide something ? Not worry. Tell Ayla. Ayla friend of Crono and others. »  
  
Marle was looking at her feet. « It's because you're a friend that we try to keep you out of this. You both helped us a lot. I… I don't want you to know what we do. » turned away. Ayla saw to her surprise that she was getting tears in her eyes.   
  
Frog noticed it too and drew his weapon again. « Tears. If thou fightst a beast so foul that thou art brought to tears merely thinking of his misdeeds, so shortly after facing the evil of Magus, then such an evil is one that I must not merely know of, but must make suffer the Masamune as well.»  
  
Ayla just nodded Lucca shook her head. « Your sword is powerful Frog, but… Lavos is… indescribable. »  
  
« But is he not a serf of Magus ? »  
  
« I don't think so. » Marle frowned. « When I asked Magus if he had made Lavos, he looked at me like he wanted to kill me. I think he hates Lavos. But why would he use him then ?»  
  
« Hatred and contempt are bedmates to Magus methinks. There's nary a soul that would have a place in his heart.»  
  
« Me no understand thing. What is Lavos ? What did he do ? »  
  
« Not what did he do » Lucca corrected. « What WILL he do ? »  
  
« Huh. But… you say you see what Lavos do ? »  
  
« I… can't explain. Anyway, you've done so much already. It really wouldn't be…HEY »  
  
Ayla had managed to grab the protesting inventor. « Ayla not let you go till you tell, so Ayla can help.» She then decided to start tickling her helpless prey.   
  
Frog made a noise in his throat that was probably laughing. « While I shan't employ methods of torture as Lady Ayla, I too implore with great urgency to shed light in the darkness. »  
  
Marle and Crono chuckled a little at Lucca's helpless giggling. At the end, Ayla let go of Lucca. After she had recovered a little, there was a long silence, in which Frog and Ayla were looking determined, as Robo seemed to look with great interest, though it was hard to tell, at the others, who were exchanging glances. At the end Lucca took off her glasses.  
  
« Lessee, how to put his. Suppose you walk point A to point B. »  
  
Ayla was confused « Point A ? Where that ? »  
  
«Oh sorry, of course. Let's try that again. Suppose you walk… from the Mystic mountains to the village. You take steps, each step bringing you further. Right ? And actually, in the same way, we travel from today to tomorrow, each day bringing us a little further. »  
  
The two students frowned. « Ayla no think of it like that before. But Ayla can walk from village to mountains. Ayla cannot go to yesterday«   
  
« Well it's just a matter of speaking. Now, suppose that travelling like hat, you could find a shortcut. If you could jump from the Mystic mountains so you wouldn't have to walk all along the path. You could manage to skip a lot of steps. Now, like that, you can also do something like that in time. Jump from today to next year, skipping all the days in between. Not only that, but you can jump back to the past. From today to yesterday.»  
  
Lucca heard at a stunned silence. « But… If Ayla go to last year, there are… two Ayla's? And if two Ayla's go to year before… three Ayla's ?»  
  
Lucca fidgeted a little with the keygate. « Well… euhm… I can't answer that really. We can only make very specific jumps really. So we never got to see ourselves. Though I must admit it's a funny idea. »  
  
Robo spoke. « I could wait here until you can collect me later. Then you could come and see me ere, so there would be two of me. »  
  
Ayla frowned. «But if Robo from later tells Robo from now to go away ? What then ? »  
  
Lucca was now looking embarrassed. « Euhm… I don't… know actually.»  
  
Frog seemed to doubt. « If thou didst not make me a mage with the time my tongue can strike, I would hold thee for a jester. Praytell. How does one make these leaps of time ?  
  
Marle sniggered. « you should know Frog, We went trough a gate to give you your magic. »  
  
« That sensation was the leap of time. But. It was nigh the same feeling that overcame me when Magus was vanquished. Does that mean ? »  
  
« Yeppers. Welcome in the past. Frog. »  
  
« When is this time then ? How far did I 'jump back'»  
  
Now it was Robo that spoke. « superficial archaeological research indicate that this is approximately 65 million year before the beginning of the calendar. »  
  
Frog had an awed look in his eyes. « A great distance from our homes indeed. » he suddenly « If my home is close in time to thy home. For thy odd behaviour might be spawned by the passing of the years and not, as I suspected, a far away origin. »  
  
« Indeed. We're from 1000 AD And Robo here is from 2300 AD »  
  
« But what Lavos do ? » Ayla asked. She was confused, and still felt a sense of pain about the death of her enemy Azala. A new enemy to fight would be welcome.  
  
Lucca was glad to change the subject. « Well. We aren't really sure what he did. And we sure can't… describe it » she shuddered « so we're gonna take you somewhere where you can see it. » With that, she pushed a button on the gatekey. The small blue thing suddenly became larger, reminding Ayla of the entrance to a hut, without a hut. Lucca kept the button pushed in. « Go on. You won't get hurt. »  
  
Frog held his breath and walked in. Ayla saw him stepping in the blue circle and stopping a little farther. She ran to the other side of the circle. The air looked perfectly normal, and she carefully felt with her hands.. When she looked in the circle she saw Frog standing a little further as well, but now looking at her. "It make Ayla's head hurt." She muttered. Steeling herself she walked in the gate, soon followed by the other 4. It was rather weird standing in the gate. While from the outside, she had not been able to see trough the gate. From the inside she could look trough both sides of the gate. Both circles were about a meter away from eachother, yet a crack that was just beneath the gate showed that the two sights were from the same point looking to the other side. The rest of the strange room was made of blue and black colours moving all the time. Her feet felt strange too. The ground wasn't cold or warm. She couldn't even feel it. No matter how hard she tried. She brought her hand down and was amazed that it went right trough the 'ground'.   
  
« Tis most eerie is it not Lady Ayla? »  
  
« Ayla think she need throw up. »  
  
« Prithee remove thy mouth from my cape, for there is worse to come. »  
  
« What ? »  
  
Just then the two circles became smaller and disappeared. Ayla arched her neck to see her last point of orientation disappear. Marle grinned.   
  
« here we… »   
  
The 'ground' under Ayla suddenly disappeared. Ayla felt that she was moving very fast. Falling, eventhough her hair wasn't moving, and she couldn't see anything moving. Instinctively, she grabbed something to hold on to.  
  
« …go. HEY. »  
  
« Hm, she seems to like you Crono. »  
  
Ayla opened her eyes again. It looked like there was ground again, though the air looked really funny. She then noticed she was holding to someone squirming. In her panic she had grabbed Crono, and she was now holding him, face against her chest in a rather odd way, not to mention she was nearly breaking his ribs. She let go and Crono started to breathe again. She looked a bit ashamed.  
  
« Do not worry Lady Ayla. Tis one thing to retain courage in face of an enemy, but quite another to feel THAT sensation. »  
  
« The sensation of timetravel does indeed give sensory information that is logically impossible. It can be very distressing. »  
  
« Yeah, we nearly had to use a crowbar to convince Frog to leave the ground again after he had landed on it. » Lucca sniggered.   
  
Frog straightened. « Indeed. Though thy reaction to observing my cursed yet powerful form did give many a merry thought. I wager thou nearly reached the very roof of the cathedral. » He suddenly brightened. « But hold. Would it not be wise to bless Lady Ayla with the powers of the elements as well. »  
  
Lucca shook her head. « nah, those powers were started a lot of years after Ayla's time. »  
  
« Frog Why you call Ayla, Lady Ayla ? Name Ayla is Ayla. »  
  
« Thou art of noble blood. Mayhaps not leader of thy land, but of ruling blood. »  
  
"Frog funny. Ayla no rule you. And chieftain just mean people listen to you. No need longer name. Call Ayla Ayla. »  
  
« As is thy wish Ayla »  
  
Marle yawned. « Are you quite finished yet, we have another portal to go trough. »  
  
« Again? »  
  
« Yep, but this time, in groups of three. » Lucca spoke. « Now Robo, Frog and Ayla, you go first. » She guided the three of them in a small circle and pushed the button on her keygate. This time Ayla just closed her eyes and thought about the music they made at the village. There was just a weird feeling in her stomach before Frog asked her to step out of the gate. When she got out she looked around and sniffed.   
  
« Strange air. Smells bad. » It was dark. The ground under her seemed to be some kind of strange grey hard stone. She felt at it with her hands. « Ground feel like Robo. »  
  
« Thou art right L… Ayla. This room is made of iron. Is this the work of a blacksmith or a sorcerer. »  
  
« Data indicates that this dome was constructed by people working for the independent city of Bangor in 1876. Using robots of the CE-532 type, who were very modern for those times. »  
  
« Thou speakst riddles Robo »  
  
« Ala also no understand »  
  
« And neither do I really. » Lucca, Marle and Chrono had arrived. Lucca looked at the room around her. « Well, I can understand this, but a lot of the other things here, I can't. All the knowledge, and noone to explain it. » Frustration filled her face.  
  
« Anyway, this room is underground » Marle said interrupting Lucca's gloom. « The reason why we brought you here is not here, but this is the closest gate.»  
  
The 6 walked trough dark hallways. Ayla felt uncomfortable in the confined space. The precense of long dead bodies didn 't calm her in the least. « How these people die ? »  
  
«Starvation, disease,… » Lucca soundedalmost desinterssed. They passed a skelon that had a crushed skull « … the occasional fight, probably over food. I'm not sure. But keep your questions for now. They'll be answered later.»  
  
After a while they reached a hatch. It was open, and it looked like it had been for a long while. The shaft was covered in sand. When she left the shaft Ayla inhaled deeply, trying to fill her lungs with fresh air. To her surprise, the air outside was hardly better. The wind brought cold, but not sweetness.. She looked around and her mouth fell open. She felt like an ant in a huge forest of blue trees. At the bototm of the trees she saw entrances however. « T… These are… huts ? »  
  
«…were huts » Lucca still had a depressed look. Marle jus tried not to look at anything and was carefull about where to put her feet. Then Ayla looked at the ground. Bone met her gaze. It's hand outstretched toward the hatch, a bone in the leg broken. She inspected the rest of the ground. As far as she could see the ground was littered with skeletal remains. She took a closer look at the buildings They all looked broken, empty and dead. She saw there was a huge roof in the sky, lue like the rest, but you could look trough it. It was broken too.  
  
« On my honor. This sight would sicken a Naga-ette. What… ? » Marle gestured him to stop. After 15 minutes of walking they reached the edge of the city. They walked on a broad path, made entirely of black stone, butit contained a lot of cracks. At the side of the road and on it were what looked like remains of animal. But Ayla couldn't think of any animal except her friend Robo that was made of iron. Lucca warned them that they might be attacked, but it wouldn't be very hard.   
  
A short while later the attack came. Three strange pink creatures charged at them from a reasonable distance. Their bodies were different. One had two very thin legs and no upper legs or wings, but a huge head. Another one looked like a naked ape witha third arm on it's chest, al the three arms sporting claws and it's face had almost no place for anything else but it's jaw with teeth. The last one was monstrously fat, walking on four paws to move, his mouth hanging open, showing two tongues. Frog drew his sword but Crono made a dismissive gestre. Marle and Lucca took their weapons and fired. The fat one and the three armed one fell. The thin legged one didn't seem to notice and charged on, his small limbs pathetically moving under the heavy load. Lucca and Marle shot him without haste or hesitation.  
  
The three had been running on the road, so they had to walk past the corpses. Ayla went closer for inspection. She looked at the fat beast and ripped the wound of Marle's crossbow open. She made a disgusted noise. The innards of the beast were even more disgusting then it's looks. Looking closely she saw several small creatures crawling out of the dead flesh. This creature would likely be more lethal if you ate it then if it tried to eat you. Then she looked at the front paws. She almost cried out in shock. She was holding a cooling human hand, bloodied by walking over the stone. She jumped away from the creature. She gave a second look at the two others. The two legs of the creature with the huge head sported small human feet, like children's feet, and the three armed one's eyes could have belonged to Kino, if they weren't above that monstrous jaw. She turned away to run from them, but ran into Frog, who had been watching over her shoulder. He seemed almost enchanted by the corpses, slowly shaking his head.  
  
« What horror…. What horror must it have been to live thusly. And I once surrendered myself to sorrow for my own self for some mere membranes 'tween my fingers.. »  
  
After some more urging from Lucca and Marle they walked on. After some time Robo spoke.  
  
« We are now entering an are with background radiation. Long exposure can have bad effects upon ones health. I suggest we move trough the laboratories without pause. »  
  
« What now ? » Ayla was getting a little depressed. She didn't usually feel like this.  
  
Lucca opened her mouth but Marle was faster. « Let's just say this piece of land is cursed. »  
  
« The same cure which caused the suffering of yonder wretches ? »  
  
Now it was Lucca « Yes that plays a role in it. »  
  
« Then let's make haste. »  
  
The lands they travelled trough. Lucca had told Frog and Ayla that it wasn't THAT urgent that they had to run or leap, especially since the labs were filled with mutants, and they could be dangerous in larger numbers. The road they walked on was filled with a large building that had toppled on it. They walked trough the windows. In the city Ayla had become used to skeletons. She was surprised at how easily she ignored the sound of cracking bone under her boots. It took about an hour before the endless crawling trough, climbing over and walking passed fallen buildings was over. After a while Robo commented again. « Background radiation is back to normal level. » Ayla and Frog sighed in relief, and even Crono, Marle and Lucca seemed a bit calmer.  
  
More time passed. A blue dot appeared at the horizon. It grew into a city similar to the ones they had left, but bigger. When hey reached the edge, Marle stopped.   
  
« Frog, I know this is a sensitive subject, but could you wear this cloak. The people here nearly got a heart attack when we arrived here with Robo, if they saw you, they might attack you before you can explain. » She sighed « Not that they would stand a chance against you. »  
  
Ayla suddenly cheered up. « People here ? Ayla was afraid everyone here dead. Silly Ayla. »  
  
Marle smiled too. « yes, but please don't speak to them. They're rather tense now. »  
  
With that they walked in the ruined city. After a while Ayla saw that people were looking at them. People stopped digging trough the rubble to look at them. Ayla looked at them. Why were these people working ? They were sick and hungry. Was the leader of this people so cruel that he forced them to work. They reached another hatch. They climbed down and again Ayla felt captured between the huge walls. A least there ere no corpses here. Then another door was opened and they walked in a chamber. In it were 60 people. Most of them were either too young or too sick to go outside. Only one person was looking like he was too old. Many people were looking with awed expression at Crono, Lucca and Marle. Some people were looking scared at Robo while even less people were looking curiously at them. Most people however, were just staring in front of them. They reminded her of the Laruba villagers, but a lot worse. A couple of people were cutting in a corpse. It looked like it belonged to a new-born. Small pieces of flesh were cut off and given to the children, who were standing in line, looking excited. Ayla looked at Frog, but could see nothing trough the cloak. Perhaps he's not looking at what's happening. Maybe that's not such a bad idea.   
  
He old man received them warmly, though he sounded sick, hungry and tired. Had he been of Ayla's village, Ayla would have made preparations for the burial. Yet he seemed to be the leader.  
  
« Ah the healthy ones. You have two new friends with you I see. If you wish the Enertron is at your service. »  
  
Marle talked. « no, we're fine. So, how are the plant going ? »  
  
« It grows and stays alive. Any news from Trann dome ? »  
  
« Nope, we just came here to have a look at the computer downstairs. »  
  
« Oh, okay. Well, go ahead. »  
  
Ayla looked. In a small bag of earth, a little plant was growing. It had a prominent place, almost as if these people were worshipping it. Ayla went closer, hands on her back to reassure people and looked at the plant.  
  
« Hey Ayla, are you coming ? » Lucca was getting impatient.  
  
« Ayla coming. »  
  
« Be careful now. These corridors are protected by robots, and they'll attack anyone that comes near. They're in pretty bad shape after all these years, but they could still hurt us if they surprise us. »  
  
« What manner of guardian are these 'robots' ? »  
  
« Well, they're like Robo, only a lot less smart. And a lot less nice.»  
  
« And I'd like to add their strength is vastly inferior » Robo said. Ayla couldn't detect any form of pride in Robo's voice. But then, Robo was strange.  
  
« Yeah, that too, now come on. We're almost where we have to be. »  
  
The knowledge that their depressing trip was almost over cheered Ayla up, and the walk didn't seem so long. She even had a little fun completely battering a robot that had attacked her in the back into a heap of iron. She had had a rough day, and the silent automatons were perfect stress relief. Then they came in a room. It was a relatively small room. Lucca went to a chair but Robo stopped her and told her he was faster. Then Marle suddenly cried out.  
  
« Wait a minute. Shouldn't we explain this whole recording thing to Frog and Ayla. I mean, I'm not even sure how it works, so I guess they'll be completely stumped.  
  
«Lucca, looking a bit disgruntled agreed. « Ayla, do your people ever make pictures ? »  
  
« Drawings ? Yes. We draw about great happenings or strong leaders in cave. After Ayla dies, Ayla hopes she is drawn.»  
  
« Tis not something to hope, tis something to know. Thou saved thy own people and defeated thy foe. »  
  
«You help Ayla. »  
  
Lucca interrupted « Anyway, in this time, they have a machine that draws not only a really nice picture of someone sanding still, but can also show how something moved, and even add the sound to it. » She had Robo demonstrate it with one of the few security cameras that were still working.  
  
« Yesterday I would call such a thing a miracle. Today I feel like everything I thought impossible is the easiest of things. »  
  
Ayla just sat down and looked at the black pieces of walls that suddenly changed colours. It was like looking trough a window. One of the 'screens' as Lucca called them, showed an image that looked like you were looking down from a Dactyl, but a lot higher. Another showed the inside of one of the cities they had been in, but still undamaged and full of people, doing both strange and familiar things. Many of the people looked really strange. She heard Frog mumble something about Mystics and humans living together. the third one showed a track of land, like what you would see if you rode a dactyl and looked over it's shoulder.  
  
Ayla didn't move an inch during the spectacle. She didn't scream, cry or eve sob. She couldn't even think. She could only look as the earth started to shake and people started to look worried, though not too much, as if they were used to it. When the moving became harder, people started to panic Her eyes were drawn to the back of the third screen, that showed a crack in the earth, rapidly growing. Soon it could be seen on the first screen. The crack became wider and wider, fireballs flowing out of it. A huge creature followed, looking like a huge porcupine, it fired thousands upon thousand things in the sky. It didn't look like a big fire, but the name Lavos came up in her inactive mind. Soon after, the destruction began. There was too much destruction and death for Ayla to register. The second screen was now filled with people in a frenzy. The blue roof broke, sending pieces of it falling down. Ayla saw that people were covered in blood suddenly. More of the projectiles fell down, causing men, women and children to fall down, dead or wounded. Only when the screen suddenly acted strange and then went black. The other screens showed Lavos kept firing more and more things.  
  
Soon after it changed. It now showed a man dressed in a strange suit, looking calm, yet with a hint of worry in his face. He told of a creature assaulting Protoss dome, and of missiles and a 'Global Defence Team' being prepared. Shortly after she saw projectiles heading from all sides of the screen towards Lavos. Ayla felt her fists clench. Most fiery objects exploded before they got even near Lavos, but some got trough and the third screen was filled with fire. Even as the man on the second screen was announcing the direct hits, Ayla could see the beast was unharmed. Other flying things followed, shooting lasers. Boats in the water shot. Other strange looking people ran towards Lavos, an invisible screen protecting them from most projectiles, but not enough to allow them to get close to Lavos. The attacks weakened, and by the time the screen went black, they were pitiful compared to the show of strength in the beginning. All the time the voice of the man on the second screen became more nervous, as he spoke of failures and other cities suffering destruction, until his screen changed to a coloured screen with strange drawings on it, and then went black. The first screen lasted the longest, showing Lavos keeping spewing projectiles , surrounded by corpses and fire. Then it too went black.  
  
Robo's voice filled the short moment of silence. He told in his strange and calm voice about the following history. Of Lavos erecting a mountain and killing everyone who came near it. About the inability to communicate between domes. Of the research centre becoming nuclear wasteland Of democratic governments falling instantly. All mystics dying in surges of xenophobia. Trusted robots suddenly starting to murder all humans on detection. Of all societies climbing out of the pits suffering a rain of destruction. Strange fireballs being fired into the sky from the surroundings of Lavos' mountain. Of poisoned soils and clouded skies. Of dying plant life and food scarcity. Towards the and Robo said the computer had not been updated, and he was speculating, and Ayla didn't understand half the things. But she already knew the ending of the story before Robo fell silent.  
  
Frog was the first to speak. « And 300 and less then one year later, affairs are thusly. The once proud people of Guardia living as vermin, in a manner I would not wish upon Magus himself. » His voice sounded strange.  
  
Ayla felt like breaking something, anything, and she felt like sobbing too. « Nothing to fight against. Only hope people in STUPID dying plan…. » Lucca clasped her hand in front of her mouth shaking her head. Ayla looked around  
  
« What ? Future people can't be here. » She then saw Marle, staring in front of her.  
  
« Wh.. ; what… you… you're lying. YOU'RE LYING. !» She made a move as if to attack Ayla with her bare hands, then suddenly charged Robo and pounced on his chest. « Tell her Robo… you know those things. »  
  
Robo answered « I cannot give an answer with certitude. Predictions… » He somehow looked a bit like Lucca when she was hesitating.  
  
« Tell us the truth Robo… tell us that the plant will live. »  
  
Robo held his head as if in great pain. « Conflicting orders given »  
  
Marle fell on her knees. Crono tried to comfort her but she pushed him away, sobbing. « Not true, not true. You're liars… liars. »  
  
« They speak the truth healthy one.»  
  
All eyes suddenly went at the door. « DOAN ! »  
  
« Heh. When I was young, we still had the robots locked down in the lower basements. » He sighed. « And when my father was young there was still some form of education. He loved plants so much. And told me a lot about them. I knew a long time that these plants won't save us. »  
  
Marle was sniffling. « Oh Doan, but that life, the hope. It's…it's all gone. »  
  
Doan chuckled. « Oh, for me perhaps, but the people upstairs still believe in it, don't they ? I've found some more seeds in the storage. After these plant dies, we'll plant another. I know they are spoiled, and will all die, but as long as there are seeds, there will be hope. With a little luck, everyone will be dead before we run out of seeds, and everyone will have known hope before they died. .. except me of course.»  
  
He walked up to Marle and tried to help her up. « Come up stairs have a rest in the Enertron. And then have another normal rest. » He chuckled. « Maybe you should come with us boy. » he looked at Crono "And keep an eye out for new robots. I fear I won't be much of a help. »  
  
Crono nodded. After the three had left, the remaining four sat in silence. This time Ayla broke the silence. « So you go to mountain to kill Lavos ? »  
  
Lucca shook her head. « No. That wouldn't help anyone. Not to mention we're too weak for that. I mean, we have magic, and you and Robo are really strong but… »  
  
« What is thy quest then. Is there any hope left ? »  
  
« Not in this day but perhaps in the past. If we could kill Lavos before 1999, this… disaster may never take place. »  
  
Ayla jumped on her feet. « That possible? »  
  
Lucca hesitated. « We… don't know. Ayla, what would have happened had we not helped you with Azala. »  
  
« Ayla die, Azala win. Azala kill tribes. » It sounded so unimportant now. She then remembered that this Lavos had killed Azala and her kind. He'll pay for that too ! 'We have no future' he had said. Now she knew how he had felt.  
  
« But in the time we came from, there are no reptites, only humans and mystics. So if we would follow that, then the whole timeline is fixed. Whenever we do something in history, that won't affect the future, since we had always done it really. Get it ?»  
  
« Ayla… think so. » she was getting a headache.  
  
« However. Remember Frog, when Marle had appeared, and everyone thought she was Queen Leene ? Before we did that, you would probably have led a brigade in the cathedral and saved Queen Leene.. but since Marle was found, you had to go alone. You… were probably defeated, or arrived too late. »  
  
« WHAT dost thou tell me ? »  
  
« Marle… disappeared. I suspect that Yakra killed queen Leene, and since Queen Leene is Marle's ancestor, Marle ceased to exist too. She had never existed. So in that case, the future, well, our present, WAS changed. We later changed it back though. »  
  
« So Ayla CAN fight ! Wait… Ayla no understand. If Marle never born. How come Crono and Lucca remember Marle ? »  
  
Lucca looked like she had eaten something filthy. « I don't know » she mumbled. « Sheesh, you're from the pre-historic age and you ask more questions then Crono and Marle combined. Anyway. So, we're looking for Lavos. Some mystics from our time told us Magus created him, so we thought we'd go back to 600 to kill him before he does, but it seemed Magus wasn't totally straight with the Mystics either. And well, the rest you know. We were sent to the past, saw the arrival of Lavos. And the only trace we have is that timegate. That's all we know.»  
  
Frog suddenly jerked. « A thought shakes my soul. Marle thought Magus an enemy of Lavos. Did Magus summon Lavos then not for the destruction of Guardia, but for the destruction of Lavos himself. Did our efforts mayhaps saved the kingdom, yet doomed this very planet ? »  
  
Robo interrupted. « I estimate Magus' chances of success extremely unlikely. I estimate that at 600 AD, Lavos' power was only 0.00002% from it's power in 1999. It is unlikely that Magus could have overcome him. »  
  
« P… perchance Lavos was asleep then, and Magus could have… »  
  
« Wait. Crono, Marle and Lucca saw this before fight with Magus ? » Ayla had an idea.  
  
« Yes, what… »  
  
« Frog. You needed Crono and friends to defeat Magus ? »  
  
« I was too ashamed to even confront the fiend 'till they brought me the Masamune and the remembrance of honour. »  
  
« So… before they help you defeat Magus Lavos still happen. That means Magus lost against Lavos. »  
  
Lucca slapped her forehead. « Of course. And after his death the Mystics gave up their war. The history books DID tell us Magus disappeared rather abruptly, and his castle was destroyed."  
  
Frog made the noise in his throat again. « So I have not doomed the planet, yet merely saved the fiend's life. Ah, Fortune does have a strange sense of humour indeed. But this knowledge pleases me.»  
  
« So. We go trough new gate. Find way to kill Lavos. Then party. » Ayla was cheering up. There was a new fight !  
  
«Yes. I just hope it's not a dead end. » She looked a the screen. « I don't think I'd survive THAT. »  
  
« Art thou so sound of health thou hopeth to live a thousand years ? »  
  
« Euhm… non, I just… I just thought about… how bad it would be to face Lavos there. »  
  
«Thou art a poor liar. »  
  
« Lucca talk or Ayla make Lucca talk again. » She grabbed the weaker inventor.  
  
« Okay, okay, I'll talk… » She was serious again. « There's a gate. At that place where you got your magic Frog. It… leads to 1999. Very close to he place where Lavos emerges. The four of us had thought that… if we really don't find anything else we'd… we'd… well…»  
  
« Rather perish as those people then flee in the past. Thy courage and honour would be worthy of Cyrus himself, and I shall follow it. »  
  
« Ayla have strong friends. But if they try to keep Ayla safe again, Ayla will show she strong too. »   
  
« And thus it is decided. » Frog drew his sword. « I vow, on my honour, my soul and my sword that I shall not rest before this Lavos tastes oblivion. »  
  
« And your revenge on Magus ? » Robo asked  
  
« Hunting down the sorcerer shall be rest to me.»  
  
Ayla cheered. « Then we go ? This place not good. »  
  
When they arrived back at the room with all the people, they found that Marle had fallen asleep. Crono looked at the 4, and every thought about waking Marle went into hiding, never to be seen again. Ayla found a comfy spot and laid herself down to rest. Her second-last thought before she fell asleep was that she had to make Kino chieftain if she was going to hunt Lavos. She would tell him she would help Frog finding Magus. She didn't want HIM to know. She now understood why Lucca, Marle and Crono hadn't want to tell her about Lavos Then, just before she fell asleep, she saw Marle and Doan in her mind's eye. They both reminded her of someone somehow. She then fell asleep. 


End file.
